forte

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈfɔrteɪ/ UK /ˈfɔːteɪ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a thing at which one excels; a strong point

Quick mental arithmetic was never really his forte.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a thing at which one... strength specialty talent gift aptitude métierstrong suit

Opposites

weakness failing shortcoming foible

Word family

Related forms fort fortify force

Simplified etymology

Forte comes from an Italian musical direction meaning “loudly” and entered English in the early 18th century. Together with piano, “softly,” it contributed to the name pianoforte, an instrument capable of graded changes in volume.

Etymology

From French fort ('strong'), from Latin fortis ('strong'); the English noun (one's strong point) was later reshaped after Italian forte. The unrelated musical adverb 'loudly' comes directly from Italian forte.

fort French fortis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# forte

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɔrteɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɔːteɪ/

## Meanings
1. a thing at which one excels; a strong point

## Examples
- Quick mental arithmetic was never really his forte.

## Synonyms
- strength
- specialty
- talent
- gift
- aptitude
- métier
- strong suit

## Antonyms
- weakness
- failing
- shortcoming
- foible

## Related Forms
- fort
- fortify
- force

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fort
- Root: fortis

## Etymology
From French fort ('strong'), from Latin fortis ('strong'); the English noun (one's strong point) was later reshaped after Italian forte. The unrelated musical adverb 'loudly' comes directly from Italian forte.

## AI Etymology
Forte comes from French fort ('strong'), from Latin fortis ('strong'); the English noun (one's strong point) was later reshaped after Italian forte. The unrelated musical adverb 'loudly' comes directly from Italian forte. The historical trail runs through French fort and Latin fortis. In modern use it means a thing at which one excels; a strong point. Related forms include fort, fortify, force.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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